Wall of building blocks with spaced, parallel wooden panels and steel connector plates



Nov. 22, 1966 c. KAY 3,286,428

WALL OF BUILDING BLOCKS WITH SPACED, PARALLEL WOODEN PANELS AND STEEL CONNECTOR PLATES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 18, 1963 I I l H6- 6 INVENTOR.

CHARLES m BY J M ATm/FA/Ms' Nov. 22, 1966 3,286,428

C. KAY WALL OF BUILDING BLOCKS WITH SPACED, PARALLEL WOODEN PANELS AND STEEL CONNECTOR PLATES Filed Sept. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HARLES A64 V BYQyf/VM United States Patent f WALL OF BUILDING BLOCKS WITH SPACED,

PARALLEL WOODEN PANELS AND STEEL CON- NECTOR PLATES Charles Kay, 3191 Thornapple River Drive SE., Grand Rapids, Mich. Filed Sept. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 310,193 3 Claims. (Cl. 52-496) This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application entitled, Building Block, filed April 7, 1961, Serial No. 101,428, which is now abandoned.

This invention relates to a building block wall construction, particularly to finished wall or floor formed of a plurality of building blocks, each composed of several interconnected components.

Building blocks having spaced panels interconnected by some type of structure have been previously disclosed. However, conventional existing commercially available building blocks of this type are complicated and expensive to manufacture.

Although various types of wall constructions have been proposed heretofore, none has ever gained any commercial acceptance, or has been at all practical and operative, as far as is known. These prior devices all have significant deficiencies.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a building block Wall construction consisting solely of blocks, each having a minimum number of economically designed components, but providing a sturdy competitive article of manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a building block wall construction wherein each block has spaced wooden panels joined together by metal connectors which allow a very slight amount of shifting between the panels for interfitting, yet keep the panels accurately spaced and firmly supported.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reading the specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational fragmentary view showing the building blocks of this invention forming a wall structure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the building block unit of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the building block unit of this invention;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the building block unit of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the connector plate utilized to interconnect the block panels;

FIG. 6 is an exploded top plan view showing the arrangement of the blocks at a junction of two walls; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manufacture of the block.

Basically, this invention pertains to a building wall construction and to a plurality of blocks forming a wall without any mortar, binder, or internal filler. The block consists of first and second wooden panels disposed in spaced, parallel, aligned planes. The panels are interconnected by special metallic connector plates. The connector plates are positioned inwardly of the ends of the panels, and have flanges forcefully received in the panels, providing a means for interconnecting, spacing, and supporting the panels.

The edges of the panels are provided with tongues and grooves to interconnect the blocks with adjacent like blocks to form the novel wall structure.

The building block assembly is designated generally as 10. The assembly includes the front or first panel 15, the second or rear panel 30 and connector plates 45 and 50.

3,286,428 Patented Nov. 22, 1966 Referring now more specifically to the details of the invention, the front panel 15 is best shown in FIG. 2.

The front panel 15 is of a generally rectangular design. It is constructed from wood. The panel has a flat face 16 and back 17. The face 16 is finished, embossed or raised or provided with other finished designs.

The top edge 18- of front panel 15 is provided with a tongue 19 which is of a semi-cylindrical design. The end edge 20 is provided with a similar shaped tongue 21. The bottom edge 22 is provided with a centrally disposed groove 23. The groove 23 is of a semi-cylindrical 'design and of the same dimension as tongue 19. The groove 23 is thus adapted to receive the tongue 19 of an adjacent block unit. The other end 24 is provided with a groove 25 which is similar in design to the groove 22. The respective tongues and grooves extend throughout the length or width of the respective edges with which they are associated.

Spaced inwardly from the ends of the first panel 15, nd disposed at approximately the quarter and three-quarter points between the end edges, are slots 26 and 27. The slots 26 and 27 open upon the back 17 of the first panel and are perpendicular thereto. The slots 26 and 27 extend throughout the vertical dimension of the first panel and receive the connector plates as will be explained more fully hereinafter.

The second panel 30 is similar in design to the first panel 15. It has a flat face and back 31 and 32 respectively. The top edge 33 is provided with a tongue 34. The bottom edge 37 is provided with a groove 38. The one end edge 35 is provided with a tongue 36, and the other end edge 39 is provided with a groove 40.

The back panel 30 is provided with slots 41 and 42 which are of a similar design as, and are located similarly to, the slots formed in the first panel. Outer face 31 is finished to an attractive surface.

The first and second panels 15 and 30 are connected together in spaced, parallel and aligned planes by special connector plates 45 and 50. Each connector plate 45 is a generally rectangular shaped member having its side edges turned up parallel in the same direction to form end flanges 46 and 47. Thus, connector plate 45 is a generally U-shaped member when viewed in plan (FIG. 3). The slots 41 and 26 receive the end portions of the main body of the plate 45 adjacent the flanges 46 and 47, respectively (see particularly FIG. 7).

Connector plate 50 is designed similarly to the connector plate 45 and has parallel end flanges 51 and 52 perpendicular to the main body of the plate. The end portions of the body of plate 50 adjacent flanges 51 and 52 are received by the slots 42 and 27, respectively. When assembled, the connector plates 45 and 50 are inserted endwise into the slots in a manner hereafter described, and have a length dimension equal to the vertical dimension of the panels. The flanges of each plate are forced by pressure into the longitudinal grain of the wood. No longitudinal slots are provided for these flanges. The connector plates 45 and 50 thus interconnect the first and second panels 15 and 30 to provide a generally rigid, sturdy, unitary building assembly 10.

The connector plates are made of cold rolled steel plate. It has been found that the connector plate thickness must be at least 0.028 inch. The plate must be rigid to prevent shift between the wooden panels. This minimum thickness of cold rolled steel achieves this. This is in sharp contrast to the completely flexible structure as shown for example in US. Patent 2,061,486 to Schuh. With applicants novel structure no additional filling whatever is needed or used to complete the wall. The wall is complete upon assembly of the blocks, in combination with the novel joining post 60. The range of thickness for the cold rolled steel plates if from the critical minimum of 0028 inch to about 0.040 inch. If the plate is thicker than about 0.040 inch it will split the wooden panels when forced down through the grain. It will be understood that this. thickness is for a. block of conventional building size when the plate is about 4% inches wide between panels, plus the 4 inch flange on each side. This width can vary slightly, about /2 inch either way, but the critical plate thickness range remains the same.

FIG. 6 shows the novel corner post or joining post 60 forming part of the wall structure. The post 60 is a solid wood structure of square cross-sectional dimension. The post 60 as shown in FIG. 6 is utilized to form a T-shaped partition. The sides 61, 62 and 63 are provided with elongated locator strips or protrusions 64, 65 and 66 which are centrally located and extend throughout the length of the post on the sides thereof from which a wall is to extend. The width of the locator strips 64, 65 and 66 is equal to the distance between the backs 17 and 32 of the first and second panels of the building block. Thus, in constructing a wall or partition the first and second panels straddle the locator strip and interlock with the post as will be apparent from FIG. 6.

MANUFACTURE The block of this invention is made by cutting wooden panels to size, finshing one side (the outer surfaces) of each piece, forming tongues and grooves in the edges of each piece, cutting slots 26, 27, 41 and 42 into the inner faces of the panels perpendicular thereto. A pair of matching wooden panels 15, 30 are placed into a jig (not shown) which holds them upright and properly spaced. A steel plate 45 is now positioned as shown in full lines in FIG. 7 and forcibly driven vertically into the panels until it reaches the position shown in phantom in FIG. 7. It will be noted that the flanges 46, 47 are forced into and bite into the wood of panels 30, and that the end portions of plate 45 adjacent the flanges are guided by the slots 41, 26.

The second steel plate 50 is next forced into the panels 15, 30 in the same manner, and the block is now ready for use.

ASSEMBLY In assembling a wall, the building block units 10 are joined together in a staggered manner. This is illustrated in FIG. 1, which shows a section of wall as it might appear above a window 70, with a header unit 71 and block units 72. Since the top and one end edge of the panels are provided with tongues, and the bottom and other end edge with grooves, it is apparent that the opposite elements of these members on a next adjacent block unit are interlocked by their own weight to form the wall structure.

The plurality of blocks are extended to the desired height and length and connected to appropriate joining posts. The completed wall has air space between the panels and plates and thereby very effectively insulates the structure. No heavy structural fill is provided or necessary in the wall since the plates are sturdy to maintain the panels in proper relationship.

It has been found recently that the unique block construction is sufiiciently rigid, sturdy, and structurally interconnected to when assembled to actually serve as com bination floor-ceiling construction. The finished upper wooden panel surface forms the floor for one story, and the finished lower panel surface of the second panel forms an attractive ceiling for the story therebelow. The blocks may be reinforced by spaced stringers extending through the hollow spaces. For this purpose, the necessary cold rolled steel plate thickness for the block is from 0034-0040 inch. The smaller thickness plate down to 0.028 inch is acceptable for some places, but has slight flexure under heavy vertical load.

Preferably the steel plates are hot dip galvanized to prevent rusting over long periods of time.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described, it will be understood that minor modifications and improvements may be made thereto. Such of these modifications and improvements as incorporate the principles of this invention are to be considered as part of this invention.

I claim:

1. A self-supporting, decorative, finished wall construction, comprising: a plurality of preformed, hollow, unfilled, blocks, each having tongue and groove connectors on the top, the bottom, and on both ends; said blocks being interfitted in longitudinally offset relationship; each of said blocks consisting solely of a pair of spaced, parallel, coextensive wood panels having finished outer surfaces, the outer surfaces of one group of panels forming one finished wall surface, and the outer surfaces of the second group of opposite panels forming a second finished wall surface; and a pair of rigid cold rolled steel connector plates extending between said panels; each of said plates having a thickness of at least 0.028 inch and not greater than about 0.040 inch; said panels each having a pair of preformed grooves in the inner faces thereof perpendicular to said inner faces; each of said plates including a main body portion and a pair of end flanges parallel to each other and perpendicular to the main body portion; the ends of said main body portion of each plate being interfitted in said grooves at right angles to said panels, and said flanges being forcefully embedded in the grain of said wood panels; and said finished wall having air spaces within said hollow blocks insulating the decorative outer surface of one panel from the decorative outer surface of the second panel.

2. The wall construction in claim 1 in which said blocks are interfitted with vertical joining posts having alignment protrusions interfitted between said wooden panels.

3. A self-supporting, decorative, finished floor construction, comprising: a plurality of preformed, hollow, unfilled, blocks, each having tongue and groove connectors on the top, the bottom, and on both ends; said blocks being interfitted in longitudinally offset relationship; each of said blocks consisting solely of a pair of spaced, parallel, coextensive wood panels having finished outer surfaces, the outer surfaces of one group of panels forming one finished floor surface, and the outer surfaces of the second group of opposite panels forming a second finished ceiling surface; and a pair of rigid cold rolled steel connector plates extending between said panels; each of said plates having a thickness of at least about 0.034 inch and not greater than about 0.040 inch; said panels each having a pair of preformed grooves in the inner faces thereof perpendicular to said inner faces; each of said plates including a main body portion and a pair of end flanges parallel to each other and perpendicular to the main body portion; the ends of said main body por tion of each plate being interfitted in said grooves at right angles to said panels, and said flanges being forcefully embedded in the grain of said wood panels; and said finished wall having air spaces within said hollow blocks insulating the decorative outer surface of one panel from the decorative outer surface of the second pane References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 7/1922 France.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. A. C. PERHAM, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SELF-SUPPORTING, DECORATIVE, FINISHED WALL CONSTRUCTION, COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF PERFORMED, HOLLOW, UNFILLED, BLOCKS, EACH HAVING TONGUE AND GROOVE CONNECTORS ON THE TOP, THE BOTTOM, AND ON BOTH ENDS; SAID BLOCKS BEING INTERFITTED IN LONGITUDINALLY OFFSET RELATIONSHIP; EACH OF SAID BLOCKS CONSISTING SOLELY OF A PAIR OF SPACED, PARALLEL, COEXTENSIVE WOOD PANELS HAVING FINISHED OUTER SURFACES, THE OUTER SURFACE, OF ONE GROUP OF PANELS FORMING ONE FINISHED WALL SURFACE, AND THE OUTER SURFACES OF THE SECOND GROUP OF OPPOSITE PANELS FORMING A SECOND FINISHED WALL SURFACE; AND A PAIR OF RIGID COLD ROLLED STEEL CONNECTOR PLATES EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID PANELS; EACH OF SAID PLATES HAVING A THICKNESS OF AT LEAST 0.028 INCH AND NOT GREATER THAN ABOUT 0.040 INCH; SAID PANELS EACH HAVING A PAIR OF PREFORMED GROOVES IN THE INNER FACES THEREOF PERPENDICULAR TO SAID INNER FACES; EACH OF SAID PLATES INCLUDING A MAIN BODY PORTION AND A PAIR OF END FLANGES PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND PERPENDICULAR TO THE MAIN BODY PORTION; THE ENDS OF SAID MAIN BODY PORTION OF EACH PLATE BEING INTERFITTED IN SAID GROOVES AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID PANELS, AND SAID FLANGES BEING FORCEFULLY EMBEDDED IN THE GRAIN OF SAID WOOD PANELS; AND SAID FINISHED WALL HAVING AIR SPACES WITHIN SAID HOLLOW BLOCKS INSULATING THE DECORATIVE OUTER SURFACE OF ONE PANEL FROM THE DECORATIVE OUTER SURFACE OF THE SECOND PANEL. 